. >> so we had a surge in the energy sector, but it was unable to help sustain big early gains. mary thompson joins us with the sector sweep, as we call it. >> hey, there. maybe energy didn't sustain big gains, but the sector did sustain enough to make it the top performing sector of the ones we watch. other risk on sectors leaders, materials, industrials, and financials all trading to the upside. telecom, the worst performing sector despite the big rally in sprint. we are going to have more on that later. first, a closer look at the names driving the sectors today. alpha natural up a whopping 17%. the coal firm contributing to gains in the energy sector after speculation about higher demand for coal from chinese steel makers. fastenal said third quarter sales are a healthy 13%. sprint bucking the downward trend among telecom stocks on news that japan's bank is looking at taking a majority stake in the company, up 15%. we also want to point out the outperformance of the dow transports over the last seven of eight sessions. today no exception, especially of note given this indice